Flynn calls on Catholic Church to back EU membership

Fianna Fáil's Beverly Flynn is calling on the Catholic Church to state once and for all that it is fully in favour of EU membership.

The Mayo TD said the statement of the Irish Catholic Bishops on June 1 was only '90% supportive' of the Lisbon Referendum Treaty.

She said the Church had no problem making definitive statements on other issues of national interest in recent weeks, such as same-sex marriages and the Department of Education Budget.

Beverly Flynn said the vague position taken by the Church on social matters in a European context needs to be clarified.